Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that several agencies across the state, including the Queens District Attorney’s Office, will receive a portion of $3.7 million in grant money to help reduce auto theft and insurance fraud.
Photo Courtesy of Gov. Cuomo’s Office
Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week announced major grant funding to combat car theft and insurance fraud in the state.
While the Governor’s Office cited a steady decline across New York in grand larceny auto reports—15,451 in 2013, a 10-percent decrease from 2012, and a 62-percent drop from 2003—the $3.7 million in grant awards will go to district attorneys’ offices and police departments in seven counties and New York City, the FDNY, as well as to two training organizations, to enhance efforts in reducing the particular crimes.
Motor-vehicle theft was the only offense of the seven major crime categories—murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, grand larceny auto—to see an increase citywide from 2013: Stolen car reports ticked up nearly 4 percent in 2014.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office will receive $556,000, the most of any of the 17 agencies and groups. While the big-picture trend is significantly downward for car thefts in Queens over the past two decades, grand larceny auto was a year-long issue for southern borough precincts in 2014, including the 102nd and the 106th.
According to Cuomo, the grants will be used “in a variety of ways” to combat theft and fraud, including funding either all or a portion of the salaries of assistant district attorneys and investigators specifically assigned to handle stolen car and insurance fraud cases; pay overtime for enhanced enforcement and sting operations; and offer specialized training for prosecutors, police officers and investigators. The funding cycle for the grants aligns with the calendar year.
The grants are awarded by the state’s Motor Vehicle Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention program, which is overseen by a 12-member board. Awardees were selected by the board after reviewing applications submitted in response to a competitive request for proposal process that required a joint application from district attorneys’ offices and police departments in their counties. The city was exempt from that requirement: District attorneys in the five boroughs and the NYPD each applied separately, but committed to collaborative investigation, enforcement and prosecution efforts as part of the application process.
The state Division of Criminal Justice Services serves as the staff for the board and administers the grant program, which targets urban communities with high rates of theft and fraud, and is funded through a $10 fee assessed on insurance policies issued for vehicles registered in New York.
“These grants will help protect New Yorkers from car theft, as well as higher car insurance rates,” Cuomo noted.
By Michael V. Cusenza
